BAY MINETTE -- Jury selection began this morning in the capital murder-rape trial of Troy R. MacDonald, the Daphne man who pleaded guilty to killing a 21-year-old woman two years ago.

District Attorney Judy Newcomb said she expects opening statements to begin Tuesday and said the case could last about one week and one day.

MacDonald entered the guilty plea earlier this month. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table.

Even though MacDonald entered a guilty plea in the capital murder case, a trial is still required by law and a jury must determine that there is enough evidence to find him guilty, Newcomb said.

MacDonald is charged with killing Brianna Parish, who disappeared Nov. 12, 2008, from a Daphne pub. Her body was found two days later in a nearby wooded area. An autopsy indicated Parish died from strangulation and a blow to the back of her head. She also appeared to have been raped, according to investigators.